On opening day for the Salem Drive-In Theatre in 1948, programming featured the film Red Stallion (1947), preceded by a short technicolor firm Soap Box Derby (1942). Advertisements for the grand opening were targeted towards families, promising a show for the whole family to enjoy.
Following its grand opening, films shown at the drive-in were often of a similar genre as Red Stallion, usually featuring westerns or action films, such as The Tanks are Coming (1951,) Warpath (1951), The Golden Horde (1951), or From Here to Eternity (1953).
To differentiate itself from other theatres, the Salem Drive-In would show cartoons on Fridays, either as a standalone show or before a main feature film, to try and emphasize the fact that it was a family-friendly theatre despite the occasional film that wasn’t suitable for all audiences.
This would continue to be the trend for the theatre up until and after its transition to becoming the North Salem Drive-In in 1954, as after this time films were of the same genre, such as westerns Drum Beat (1954), Count Three and Pray (1955), and Old Yeller (1957). However, the short films were less common after the transition, and eventually disappeared altogether.
Cartoons were also eventually dropped from the theatre’s regular schedule, but to keep the family-friendly aspect of the theatre alive, animated films were sometimes shown such as Bambi (1942) which played in the theatre in 1958. Nothing too significant changed in the theatre’s scheduled programming up until its closure, and the trends for what was shown were standard.
